Improvement in cigarette-packages



UNTED STATES PrrrENr OEEIGE.

FRANCIS s. KINNEY, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

[M PROVEM ENT IN CIGARETTE-PACKAG ES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent'No. 203,164, dated-April 30, 1878 application filed f April 12, 1ers.

To ally whom it may concern:

`Be it known that L'FRANcIs S. KIN-NEY, `of New York, i-n the county of New York and State of New'York, have invented an Improved Method of Putting up Cigarettes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings,

making part of this specification.

'Previous to my invention ithas been customary, in puttingl up cigarettes for the market, to wholly or partially envelop several of them in a sort of Wrapper', of either paper or tin-foil, or both, and to then place a series of such packages in a box orcase, in such manner that when the latter shall be uncovered to expose the packages to view only one end of each package will be distinctly visible.

Usually each package contains either ten or twenty cigarettes, and the boxes or cases contain usually either twenty-five of the packages of twenty cigarettes each or fifty of the other kind of packages.

1t has also been customary, previous tomy invention, to have printed, or otherwise shown, upon the exterior of the wrapper or envelope of each package of cigarettes various names,

trade-marks, &c., indicative of the character of the cigarette, the origin of its fabrication, (both as to place and manufacture;) but all such labeling of or printing upon the Wrapper has usually been located upon the cylindrical or polygonal side or sides of the package, because of the impossibility of having it at that end of the wrapper which may be an open end, and the impracticability of having any such printing done upon either end that may be closed up by the folding over, in nap-like condition, of the material of the wrapper, so as to present a very uneven exterior surface of numerous thicknesses of the material.

While any suitable labeling or marking of the sides of the package serves very well, when the package shall have been removed from the box, to indicate to the purchaser of it the nature of the cigarettes, he is buying, such arrangement of label or mark does not permit a ready observation of the character of the goods by the purchasers while the packages are in the boxes in which they are displayed for sale by the retailer or store-keeper;

and it has become speciallyimp'ortant, in view of the fact that many purchasers will buy only cigarettes made of certain materials, to have plainly displayed to the observation 'of purchasers in some way the 'character of the manufacture as to the kind of paper and other materials employed in its fabrication.

To supply a means for the accomplishment of this desirable end is the purpose of my invention, which consists in the application to the end of the package or wrapper, be itan open or closed end, of some sort of label indicative of the nature or quality, or both, of the material or materials of which the contained cigarettes are fabricated, so that from the ends of the packages which are exposed toyiew, when the cover of a' box .or package is removed, it may be readily observed what the character 'of the manufacture is.

To enable those skilled in the art tomake and use my invention, l will proceed to more fully describe the same, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated some of the best modes now known to me of carrying out my said invention.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of an ordinary open-ended ci garette-paekage having my invention embodied in it. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a box of packages, such as shown singly at Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a package in which the cigarettes are wholly enveloped by a foil Wrapper, which is covered, with the exception of one end, by a paper wrapper, and having my invention applied to it. Fig. 4 is an elevation, showing a box of such packages.

In Figs. 1 and 2, A are the cigarettes, made as usual, and, in this instance, of the pure rice paperwhich I employ in the manufacture of my goods; and B is the usual paper-holder case or partially-enveloping wrapper, on the side of Which is printed, or otherwise applied, the names, trade-marks, Svc., which l employ in the labeling and advertising of my goods.

C isa label, of paper or other suitable material, made in the form of a strip or ribbon, by preference, and applied to the open end of the package by placing it diametrically across said end, and pasting its opposite ends to the sides of the paper wrapper B, as clearly shown. Upon the exposed surface of this strip C, I

have printed, or otherwise displayed, words or signs indicative of the character and quality of the material or materials of which the cigarettes are fabricated. In this instance pure rice paper is the sign to inform the purchaser as to the kind of paper used in the manufacture of the goods, this being the most important information desired, since many persons will not smoke cigarettes made of any other than rice paper.

Of course, the quality of the tobacco as well as the place and name ofthe manufacturer, may all be displayed upon the label C, if desired; but as these are all matters more of taste and choice than otherwise, a preference in which is acquired only by experience, they are none of them so important as the matter of displaying to view, so that purchasers may see at a glance some sign or label indicating the kind of paper used. At Figs. 3 and 4 are shown packages of the same cigarettes put up in foil wrappers D, (which are closed at both ends,) covered, except at one end, by paper wrappers E.

G is an end label, applied to that end of the' package which is covered with the foil only (and intended as the opening end) in the same manner as explained 0f the label seen at Figs. l and 2, and lhaving on it in this instance the same words, pure rice paper, coupled with a certain design or arbitrary gures composing one of my trade-marks.

Of course, any other shape than that shown may bel adopted for the label G, and it may be secured in place on that end of the package which will be exposed to view when the box is uncovered, in any other manner than that described which may be deemed expedient.

Whatever may be the shape of label and inode of attachment adopted, however, due regard should be had to convenience in its ready removal, in order to get at all the cigarettes if the package be one like that seen at Figs. 1 and 2, or to open the Wrapper in the case of packages like Figs. 3 and 4.

The gist of my invention, it will be seen, rests in the idea of having applied to the end of the package some sort of device, readily removable, which shall plainly indicate thena- 4ture or character of the material or materials of which the cigarettes are fabricated, so that this important information may be readily 10bserved by purchasers while the packages are so displayed (in theusual boxes) that only the ends are clearly visible.

What I therefore claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, as an improvement in putt-ing up cigarette-packages, is

The application to the end of the package of a device indicating the kind of material or materials of which the contained goods are fabricated, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand vthis 8th day of April, 1878.

' FRANCIS S. KINNEY.

In presence of- Enwp. KENT, Jr., J ACOB FELBEL. 

